France wants Tesla to transform its old nuclear plant into a car factory

But Tesla’s not saying anything about moving into the Alsace region's Fessenheim plant.

Tesla has "no current plans to open a factory in Europe,” a spokesperson for the company told Ars. But that hasn’t stopped French Energy and Environment Minister Ségolène Royal from saying that her best idea for repurposing an old nuclear power plant in northeastern France is to try to convince Tesla to build a factory there for its electric vehicles.

The Fessenheim plant, which sits on the France/Germany border, went into operation in 1978 and is currently operated by French energy company EDF. Today, it’s the oldest working nuclear power plant in France, but after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, the French government decided to close the facility by 2017 in the interest of safety. German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported earlier this week that in 2014, a water leak was discovered coming from one of the reactors, but jammed control rods forced EDF to shut the reactor down using unconventional methods. Deutsche Welle says that the incident was played down by EDF in 2014.

Still, many people oppose the closure of the power plant, with Royal noting in previous interviews that the nuclear plant supports some 2,000 jobs. France currently relies on nuclear power to supply 75 percent of its electricity nationwide, but the French government has said it wants to reduce this share to 50 percent by 2025, according to Deutsche Welle.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Royal said that the main issue with turning Fessenheim into a Tesla factory would be adapting the site to its new purpose, according to French news outlet Le Figaro. “People expect [the closure of the plant], but you must still propose something… you have to give hope to a region. My idea is to bring a Tesla factory,” Royal said. ”It would be great, because we will announce the closure of Fessenheim and there is something else to build."

"We turn the page and then see the future,” she added.

Royal also said that she met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently. “I told him, ‘I have a place for you: Fessenheim.’”

”He didn’t say no,” Royal said, adding, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Royal is scheduled to meet again with Musk and other business leaders later this month.

Tesla already has a plant in the Netherlands for assembling Model S vehicles, but after the stronger-than-expected rush of reservations for Tesla’s $35,000 Model 3 last week, the CEO said on Twitter that "we will need to build a factory in Europe to serve long-term regional demand as Fremont reaches max capacity.” Musk said last week that the Fremont facility is capable of delivering up to 500,000 vehicles a year.

Le Figaro also notes that in January, Musk mentioned at a Paris event that Alsace could be a good place for a European hub, although in the same breath he dismissed his comments as “speculation.”

France’s backup plan could include another iteration of a power plant, too. Last month, Royal noted that Fessenheim could be converted for use in other renewable energy endeavors. But even on March 7, she told the press, “Why not a factory for electric cars?”

But Mexico’s getting a plant—from Ford

While France's efforts to put its sunsetting nuclear plant to good use will certainly take years of planning, Ford announced yesterday that it would invest $1.6 billion to build a factory in Mexico. The automaker said it will focus on building small cars at the factory, including a next-generation Ford Focus and a hybrid gas/electric model to compete with Toyota's Prius.

The factory will come online in 2018 and employ 2,800 by 2020, Ford said. American politicians and labor unions criticized the company for moving jobs out of the US to Mexico, where workers make $8.50 an hour in wages and benefits, according to Reuters. In the US, workers doing similar jobs make about $60 an hour in wages and benefits. Still, even with the added 2,800 jobs in Mexico, Ford would employ fewer hourly paid workers in Mexico than both GM and Fiat Chrysler.